A/N: So there's not many chapters left, probably only three or four. Just a heads up. Enjoy!
I woke up the next morning to find that Yaten was the one who was sleeping beside me, not Seiya. I rolled over and blinked at the sight of her silver hair before smiling, a little amused to see the thin stream of drool that had rolled down her cheek. Yaten was usually so careful about her appearance that it was weird to see her when she was anything less than perfect, but it was kind of nice at the same time. I put my hands over my head and stretched carefully, hoping to keep from waking her up, but the movement of my body was enough to make her stir.
Her green eyes blinked open slowly and she stared at me sleepily. "Isn't it too early for this?" she asked after a few seconds.
"I don't know. What time is it?" I propped myself up on one elbow and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. I was surprised to see that it was already after eleven. I must have been more tired than I thought. I said as much to Yaten and she groaned, pressing her face into her pillow.
"Seiya woke me up at seven this morning," she grumbled. "She didn't want you to wake up by yourself, and when I refused to get out of bed she picked me up and dragged me in here. Your fiancée is a savage, Usagi-chan, and I wish you the best of luck in marrying her."
I laughed a little at the mental image because I could see it happening so clearly. "I appreciate the thought, even if it was forced. But where did Seiya go that early?" I tried to remember whether or not she'd mentioned going somewhere, but I was drawing a blank. Of course, by the time we'd actually gone to bed last night I was pretty wiped. The day had been really emotionally draining.
"I'm not sure. She wouldn't tell me." Yaten rubbed her hand across her cheek, discovered the drool, and made a disgusted face. "Ugh, gross! Anyway, I asked her but she said that she didn't want to tell me because she knew I would tell you. And then she said she thought you'd be mad that she was going without telling you, but that you shouldn't worry because this was something she had to do by herself and that she was taking Taiki and Chibi-Chibi along as back-up."
My eyebrows rose higher with every word that she said. I couldn't imagine where Seiya would be going that would make think I'd be mad at her, especially somewhere that she'd take Taiki along as back-up. "And you didn't think to ask her a few more questions?"
"I was half asleep at the time!" she said defensively. "Besides, you know what Seiya's like when she doesn't want to tell you something. I didn't think it was worth spending the time to argue."
"I hate to say it, but you're probably right," I muttered. Seiya could definitely be stubborn when she wanted to be. I sighed and pushed the covers off, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My mind was spinning in an effort to figure out where she might have gone, but everything Yaten had told me only made me more curious. It didn't really give me any clues.
My stomach growled and I grimaced, momentarily distracted. "Why don't you shower and I'll make some breakfast?" I suggested. "Food will help me think."
Yaten clearly didn't know about my history in the kitchen, because she agreed quickly and got up. I watched her go into the bathroom before I stood up and ventured out to investigate what we had to eat. I didn't dare try to cook anything too complicated, not unless I wanted to set off the fire alarms. But we didn't have much that didn't require some kind of culinary skill. After a couple of minutes of poking around, I decided that maybe we had better go out for breakfast. I went back to the bedroom and got dressed, pulling my top on just as Yaten came out.
"Are we going out?" she asked, not bothering to hide her smile.
Maybe she wasn't as oblivious as I'd thought. I stuck my tongue out at her. "I am. I should leave you here to starve, though."
She just laughed at me. "I'll get dressed. Why don't you try calling Seiya's phone? Maybe they'll be done and they can meet us. I know that Seiya, at least, is always up for eating a second breakfast."
"I'll do that," I said, and it wasn't until she'd left the room that I realized she had referred to Seiya as my fiancée earlier. It didn't surprise me - of course, Yaten and Taiki had been the two first people we told - but it did make me happy to hear. I smiled to myself as I got my phone and typed out a text message. I was burning with curiosity to know where she and Taiki had gone, so I was pleased when she replied almost instantly with an offer to meet Yaten and me at the arcade. That sounded good to me; I could do with a milkshake for breakfast.
Instead of calling a cab, we decided to walk. It was a gorgeous day outside and Yaten had dressed like a girl, hiding her hair underneath a hat and her eyes behind sunglasses, so no one bothered us. I linked my arm through hers and enjoyed the sunlight playing across my shoulders. After all, it hadn't been so long ago that I hadn't known whether I would ever have the chance to enjoy a nice day like this again. "We should go shopping sometime," I said suddenly.
"Shopping?" Yaten raised an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. You love clothes and shoes, but you never get the chance to go. There are tons of great little shops if you know where to look for them. I know this wonderful jewelry shop that's got awesome prices," I added, thinking of Naru's mom's shop. I hadn't been there in ages, but I remembered spending hours coveting the gorgeous pieces she had on display. "Besides, I've never had the chance to go with you before."
"And now you don't have anyone else to go with," she said quietly.
"There is that," I allowed, because it was the truth and I wasn't going to lie to her. "But that's not the only reason. Even if Minako-chan was still here, I still would've wanted the chance to go with you. And I'd probably still want to drag Seiya and Taiki along."
Yaten smirked. "Okay, now you've definitely got me interested."
I laughed and squeezed her arm. It felt nice to be able to mention the senshi and not feel like I was drowning in sorrow. It felt even better to do it now that I'd finally gotten around to following their advice. I thought that they would've been proud of me for moving things along with Seiya and finally telling my parents the truth, not to mention getting rid of Rubeus. Knowing that the Black Moon family would never bother us again was a huge weight from my shoulders.
We ended up reaching the arcade before the others, so we went upstairs to the little restaurant Unazuki worked at. I didn't see her there, so I figured she wasn't working. Yaten and I sat down and started looking at the menus. I knew it practically by heart because my friends and I had started spending so much time here instead of down in the arcade itself. It was a lot quieter and that made it easier for us to talk about things that we didn't want anyone else to overhear. Plus the fact that Unazuki usually slipped us a discount helped.
I decided to get a crepe and put my menu aside. Just as I did, the doors swung open and Chibi-Chibi hurtled inside. She made a beeline straight for me. I laughed and leaned out of the booth, extending my arms to her. She threw herself against me with a happy little cry and I lifted her up, letting her perch on my knees. Her face was sticky with something, and I had a sneaking suspicion that she'd used her puppy eyes to get Seiya or Taiki - or both - to buy her candy for breakfast.
"Had some fun, did you, munchkin?" I said wryly, grabbing a napkin. I dipped it into my ice water and started wiping her face.
"Well, you know, you only live once," Seiya said as she came over to the table with Taiki right behind her. They slipped in beside Yaten. That confused me at first, because I'd been expecting Seiya to sit beside me the way she usually does. I narrowed my eyes across the table.
"Where have you been?" I asked.
"Here and there, a little bit of everywhere," she replied innocently.
"Taiki?" I turned to my last resort with a pleading gaze. Taiki was biting her lip, looking like she was trying not to laugh. I stared at her imploringly, silently begging her to tell me the truth, until she sighed and gave in with a nod of her head. I had to hold back my triumphant beam. Hey, Chibi-Chibi had learned her puppy eyes from a pro!
"We went to speak to Otori-san," Taiki told me.
"Traitor!" Seiya hissed.
"Seiya!" I exclaimed at the same time, horrified. There was no doubt in my mind that she'd gone there to discuss me and the baby. I'd had no idea that she was planning to do it so soon. I knew she'd told Mom that her intention was to say she was the baby's father, but we hadn't really discussed that. I was flattered that she wanted to, but I wasn't sure that it would be the right thing for her. Needless to say, I couldn't believe that she had gone ahead and talked to their manager about it without me.
"Thank you for that," Seiya said, shooting Taiki an annoyed look before she returned her attention to me. "Odango, I knew you'd want to come with me and that's why I didn't tell you where I was going. Otori can have a bit of a temper sometimes. I didn't want you to be there if he got upset."
It was hard to be angry with her when she was trying to be thoughtful. I sighed. "Are you sure that you made the right decision?" I asked worriedly. "Seiya, what if you decide you want to live as a female? What if this affects your sales? Having a fiancée with a baby is bad enough, much less letting the public believe that it's your baby. This could ruin you."
"None of us care about that," Taiki said gently, speaking before Seiya could. "Seiya talked it over with me and Yaten last night and we're both okay with Seiya doing this." She looked at Yaten and they both nodded. "There is no real reason for us to keep singing now, not unless you count money. And the three of us can always find other jobs."
"That's right," Yaten said, flipping her silver ponytail over her shoulder. "I, for one, could get used to living as a woman if it ever came to that."
Taiki smiled teasingly. "You would definitely need another job then," she said. "You'd never be able to afford all of the clothing, shoes and make-up you would buy otherwise."
Seiya rolled her eyes at the both of them as Yaten stuck her tongue out and turned back to me. "I told Otori about you," she said, confirming my suspicions. "And as I expected he would be, he was very upset. He kept going on about how our image was going to be ruined." I winced, but before I could speak she continued, "But I didn't care what he said, and I made that clear to him. He could either accept it and figure things out, or release us from our contract. Those were his options."
I hardly dared to ask. "What did he choose?"
She winked at me and took something out of her pocket: a new contract that was just waiting to be signed. "What do you think?"
Please review!
